Fifteen UN peacekeepers from Bangladesh were among at least 133 people killed last Thursday when an airliner nose-dived into the Benin coast.
Four bodies were pulled from the surf in the poor West African country this morning by locals and Lebanese divers aiding search efforts as 15 survivors flown to Lebanon were rushed to hospital in Beirut.
Benin 's foreign minister said there had been 151 passengers on the Beirut-bound flight, which crashed moments after take-off from Benin 's main city Cotonou, and he told the Arabic Asharq al-Awsat newspaper the death toll had reached 133.
Lebanon's Foreign Minister Jean Obeid said at least 110 of the dead were Lebanese nationals, members of long-standing, thriving communities in West Africa who had been heading home for end of year festivities.
The 15 Bangladeshi army officers killed were also heading home for a holiday from U.N. peace missions in Sierra Leone and Liberia, a defence ministry statement said. The two countries are among the toughest spots in a violent region.
A French plane carrying 140 metal coffins arrived in Cotonou on Saturday to fly bodies home, aviation officials said.